The best-performing stock in the Dow this year is rallying on blockbuster earnings

Boeing's
earnings report boosted the company's stock, which is already the
best performer in the Dow this year.Reuters / Anthony Bolante

Boeing's
stock is flying high after a second-quarter earnings that smashed
expectations.

The highlight of the planemaker's report was free cash flow that
climbed above $4.5 billion, more than double analyst
expectations. And in an effort to sweeten the pot for loyal
shareholders, the company used $3.4 billion of that to buy back
shares and pay out dividends.

The resulting 3.6% increase in pre-market trading extends
Boeing's outperformance relative to its peers in the 30-stock
Dow
Jones Industrial Average. Shares are up 36% year-to-date, the
most in the equity benchmark — even more than red-hot Apple.
That's also more than triple the Dow's return in 2017.

The company, which has the second-largest weighting in the Dow,
has been the biggest contributer to the gauge this year,
accounting for more than 400 points of its 1,825-point net move.

Boeing bulls will be further emboldened by the company's decision
to raise its year-end earnings forecast to $9.80 to $10 a share,
a 60-cent increase.

They'll also find comfort in the record backlog of orders for
Boeing's single-aisle 737 aircraft, which is currently the
company's biggest driver of profits.

The continued bullishness on Boeing is being reflected in short
seller activity. Short interest — a measure of bets that share
prices will drop — sits at 1.4% of shares outstanding, according
to data compiled by IHS
Markit. That's close to the measure's 2017 low, reached
earlier this month.